Tracy Ohovwore, Benin City
The Edo State Government has reaffirmed its commitment to assessing the performance of the State’s ministries, departments, and agencies (MDAs), as part of the year 2025 first quarter performance appraisal exercise.
The Head of Service (HOS), Dr. Anthony Okungbowa, disclosed the information during a pre-appraisal exercise organised by the Directorate of Corporate Change, Communication, and Performance Management in the Office of the Head of Service. He emphasised that underperformance among MDAs would not be tolerated and highlighted the necessity of aligning achievements with set targets.
In his words, “We need to know exactly where we are and the level of effort required to meet our overarching goals as a government.”
Dr. Okungbowa commended the Permanent Secretary of the Directorate, Dr. (Mrs.) Joy Iyen Akhigbe, for her diligence in compiling comprehensive performance reports across MDAs and assured her of continued support.
He stressed the urgency of identifying and addressing gaps in service delivery as a way to address concerns about the low performance recorded in the first quarter of the year.
The HOS expressed concern over some MDAs, which had yet to respond to the call for the submission of their performance reports. He stressed the urgency of evaluating the entire reports across MDAs to identify and address gaps in service delivery and strengthen and correct identified lapses in the State Service.
Dr. Akhigbe noted that appraisal is a vital tool through which the Government engages with its agencies. She explained that the reports were assessed based on criteria such as budget utilisation, revenue generation, staff management, and, above all, qualitative service delivery. The evaluation report was presented in an analytical and user-friendly format, which enables data-driven decision-making.
“We are poised to carry out the 2025 first-quarter appraisal to identify both strong and weak areas; the challenges being faced, and what measures are required to address them.”
“There is a need to determine whether we are merely running a race or actually counting milestones,” Dr. Akhigbe concluded.
